Trump pledges to quit if health deteriorates

Biden’s exit from the election race has shifted some of the focus to the Republican candidate’s age 

Donald Trump has insisted he would step down as president if he were to suffer health problems after being reelected. The Republican presidential nominee made the pledge on Wednesday at a conference for the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago.

A participant in the panel interview noted that if Trump wins the US presidential election this November, he will still be in power at the age of 82 – which is older than incumbent President Joe Biden. Trump was then asked if he would consider stepping down, were his health to decline while in office.

“Absolutely!” Trump responded, stressing that he would leave the White House if he felt he were “failing in some way.”

He also noted that in four years’ time he will be older than Biden is now, but added “not mentally.” Trump also insisted it would be “a good idea” for “anybody running for presidency to take an aptitude test and a cognitive test.”

Trump, 78, narrowly avoided death at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13 when a bullet grazed his ear in a failed assassination attempt. The gunman, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired several shots, killing one person in the crowd and leaving two more wounded. Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service snipers.

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A week later, Biden revealed his decision to quit the election race, saying he would remain in office until the end of his term. The president argued that the step was in the best interest of the country.

Ambiguity around Biden’s physical and mental fortitude for the presidency had long plagued his campaign, with Republicans repeatedly claiming that the 81-year-old lacked the acuity to serve. Biden’s poor performance at a CNN-hosted debate with Trump in June placed his apparent frailty on full display for Democrats as well. 

After Biden dropped out of the race, US Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, became the Democratic Party’s presumed nominee for the November election. Trump is currently ranked the oldest presidential nominee in US history, and is expected to set the record for oldest president if he wins a second term.